the first thing
that I noticed
was the child's beauty.

then again
I realised how
you can't judge a book
by its binding.

my fingers
laced behind my head,
while the  back of my mind
rest in the palm of my hands.

the linking of
those boney fingers,
a sign
of my threadbare body,
barely old,   barely able.

there she was,
waving her habitual bliss
like a carrot
on the end of a stick.

while a silent psalm
surrounds a starry angel's glow.

Water under
the bridge,

rolling
and
tumbling,

kissing
the river's
edge,

trees
bend
in a breeze.

A  lonesome
moon
calls out
to the stars
ignoring
their
true
light.

A *****
strikes
the earth,

over turning
a crawlers
night lunch.

A bottle
of ***
shared
by two

who steer
clear
of the fires
orangey
fingers.

Fingers
to fry
the catch
under
the
night's sky.

A good rule of thumb,
     here in the mechanics
       of the mind, some just aren't
            mechanically inclined.

A line of people
    waiting in a queue,
more and more gathered
   until there was quite a few.

Some were crippled
     and others were blind,
            some were deaf and they did sign.

Here in the mechanics of the mind
   some just aren't mechanically inclined.

A good rule of thumb,
        none of what you see
            only half of what you hear.
               They 'll play on your ignorance
                     they will cater to your fear.

More and more came to
    where they gathered on that day.
They brought with them paper,
        and shoddy goods  they did take away.

Here in the mechanics of the mind,
   some just aren't mechanically inclined.
      And a good rule of thumb is a good rule of thumb.

This corner
or that corner
it makes no never mind.

Always with his hat
in his hand,
sometimes with a sign.

"Excuse me sir,
can you spare some change?"

"You see, I live here on the street."

"The two things on my mind
are a warm place to sleep
and getting enough money
to buy myself something to eat."

"You see, I can't tell you
that I'm a Vet, I can't really say
I lost my job. It's just, in my head
things aren't straight, they're just not right.
But it's not that I've gone down without a fight."

"I beg of you so I don't have to steal my next meal.
I often try hard not to think about where I am and what it is I'm doing.
This I do so I don't have to feel ashamed."

Nevertheless, people will shun him, others will beat him
and family will turn their back. What is so civil about this civilization?

I paid my dues for today
I heard the news of the day
They always have plenty to say
Canadian broadcasting is on corporate welfare
While they tell you that the poor are a strain on the Government
Their main objective is to give you a scare
In the Heart o hearts I pray for discernment
To them it's a matter of divide and conquer. I won't play
The game of consumerism is laid bare. I won't pay
A change must come for the better. Know who stands in the way

Ring around he covey
pocket full of pharmacy
money flew out the window
death to all that sin though

Free the owner of the slave
be the druggie at the rave
bless the ones that finger fun
hold me close I think I'm done

Now I'm off and on the run
eating big macs and dodging facts
no new thing under the sun
the thing is toppling see the cracks

I called a friend of mine,
you see I've always scratched her back
you know and she's scratched mine.

What makes me crazy is that
she's always one to take,
she's always on the make.

You gimmie and grab
and turn around and gouge
out my eyes,
you talk real ****,
you don't answer any of my whys.
My thousands of whys.

Well so long now,
sorry but I got to go...

Yes so long, it's been a slice,
shaking loose of you is like
putting down a vice.

Golden earrings and pretty bobbles
couldn't clean up your act.
You've walked barefoot across the floor, broken fragments of glass,
everywhere, and you were there,
but, oh so was I.
I was there too

I've given you my very best,
yes I've given you my very best,
and what do I get?
I get treated worse than all of them,
worse than all the rest.

I wish I could remember
if it was a movie or if
I  heard it in a dream.
It doesn't matter much now,
Because when
I see you coming
I just want to leave.

Just like Dylan said, "A whole lot of people dying tonight
from the disease of conceit."

I've tried taking you aside
and softly admonishing  you,
that ended in a stalemate,
what good did it  do..

You wore my Austrailian hat and battered it black and blue.
You took my painting and  threw away the frame,
I lend you money
and you drink it away.

I don't talk about drawing a line,
I just do it and
if you're in you're right mind
you won't cross it
unless you really want
the **** to hit the fan.

This conflict, I must confess,
well it can make me cry.
every time you
turn around
you're telling me another lie.

I feel a lot of ambivalence .
I don't want to hear you any more.
Some times I think I want silence,
some times I think I want to even the score.

Man, I am on
cloud nine,
look what anger does,
as if I'm in a fight.
I just get to average,
but by no means normal,
the only normal I have found
is the cycle on a  washing machine.

I'm not sinkin' in a hole
that was dug real deep by you,
thinking
this old world is all ****** up
and
you don't want to play the game,


You'd just end up leaving me,
so sad and feeling so full of shame.

Do you love me, let me count the ways,
it's not that I don't care,
it's not that I don't want to be there.

I just don't know any more...
what's that sound
telling me I have fix it,
that I have to
put it right.
Now you're looking
to put me down,
always wanting
to start a fight.

You're acting so abstract,
while with me it's so 'as a matter of fact'.
Knowing no one has even half the answers.

sift through
     all that crap
and check my direction,
where the ****'s my compass..
oh god, tell me this
                         ain't going to last,
shoot me under the wire
right before those cubes are cast.

Baby blow on them dice
   and kiss the guy to your right.

that's it,         kiss him on the lip,
      
       what a trip,                   what a slip

showing your      colours like that,

playin' those juicy chords,

            playin'    hard     on that strat.




All Rights Reserved @2012

I'm not here
To testify

I'm not here
To mystify

I'm not here
To justify

I didn't come here
To classify

I didn't come here
To not look inside

I didn't come here
For a Donkey's ride

I feel outside
I feel outside

I'm only here
because my dog has died

The man said nothing is real

While making a sweeping gesture with his right hand
It's a simulation he says, all of it, nothing is real

I remember as a kid singing row row your boat
Reminding me to be happy because life is a dream

Again the man states while gesturing, nothing is real
Strawberry Fields, nothing is real, nothing to get hung up about

The Hindu call it Maya, all an illusion, nothing is real

Science gods working toward virtual reality
Where we can't tell simulation from life, nothing is real

The man said nothing is real

While making a sweeping gesture with his right hand
It's a simulation he says, all of it, nothing is real

I remember as a kid singing row row your boat
Reminding me to be happy because life is a dream

Again the man states while gesturing, nothing is real
Strawberry Fields, nothing is real, nothing to get hung-up about

The Hindu call it Maya, all an illusion, nothing is real

Science gods working toward virtual reality
Where we can't tell simulation from life, nothing is real

A fire in the
back yard

cloudy skies
threaten snow

the deer
huddle under trees

for the weather will do
just what it please

I climb the back stairs
smelling of fire

my woman pulls the strings
giving me what I desire

November coals
so sweet and hot

feeling it in my soul
now that says a lot

two days passed new used snow tires hit the wheels

Now and then
as I remember when,
such a warm feeling washes over me.

A smile crosses my face,
can you believe it I say,
we used to be that way.

We were awestruck
by the dumb luck
in finding each other.

We found magic in
what could have been a train wreck,
holding fast  in our loving embrace.

You sharing you, me sharing me,
uncovering those things
that lovers do uncover.

Your memory brings this warm glow,
a fine feeling deep down to the bone,
rushes emanating from my very soul.

The leaves are falling,
this season is dreary with its
darkened skies and bitter winds.

Fifty shades of grey and another fifty hues of blue
the thoughts of us are slipping away
while another  evening caps yet another day


.©2013

On his head
  was tattooed
           a number,

While through
        his mind flew
                destruction..

Over his shoulder blew Kong,
    and upon Kong's war plate of torture,
    and a vice gripped and girdled waist,
with spikes tipped to rip any mans flesh.

A chain mail vest webbed with deceit,
   and acute, dispirited despair
     lay sheathed beside his broad hips.

You see him and terror grips,
               when through his eye
                  your eyes are reflected.

                    What is your number.

Guess all
      you want,
           it can't be read
                back to front
                   in the mirror.

It can't be
scrubbed clean
with the finest of lye.

Your number is your number
           and when it's up, it's up.


© 2005

All Rights Reserved

On his head
  was tattooed a number
     while through his mind
        flew destruction.

Over his shoulder blew Kong,
        and upon Kong,
             war's breastplate of torture.

A viced gripped and girdled waist
  with spikes tipped to rip the flesh.
A chain mail vest webbed with deism
  and acute despair lay sheathed.

You see him and terror grips,  
           when through his eyes,
             your eyes are reflected.

What is your number.



© 2013

An old tale of treasure spun through centuries
Of the ***** hid by Captain  Kid
With his slew of Pirates and captured slaves for labour

Story's of men's loss of lives through suffocation or broken bones
Pits dug where foreign objects marveled and feared Kid's crew
Bone chilling mystery so real, men wrote, and rumours flowed

The first where lucky and theirs lives where spared
Egg on face they travelled home empty-handed, head hug low
Oak Island, engineering marvel, apparent mind-**** to your head

I
found
an
old
phone
today

In a shop
  with antiques

Bulky,
   black and
       beautiful

From the 50's
just like me

For sure it's dial
is a rotary

Its ring
takes me
to a musky old hotel lobby

I hear it ring... ring... ringing

The desk clerk shouts out

" Paging Irving  Paging Irving
      come to the front desk please".

i
don't
have
a
steady
job
but
my
expenses
are
low,
you
could
say
that
i've
been
blessed
with
all of
what
i've
got
and
all
of
what
i know.

i
like
the
clothes
on
my
back
and
i
have
a nice
place
to live,
i've
got
friends
who
love
me,
because
you
see,
i get
as
good
as
i give,
ah- huh,
yes,
all
of
my
needs
are met,
and
it's
all
because
i
give
just
as
good
as i get.

i like
my
music
and
i like
my
wine,
i know
everything
will
work
out
alright,
whether
it's
pouring
rain,
or
the
weather
is fine,
i
will
be
leaving
all of
my
lonesome
troubles
oh
so
far
behind.

when
the
sun
goes
down
and
i am
ready
to rest,
i
call
out
for
my
baby
because
i know
that
she
will
give
me
her best.
oh yes,
my
baby
can be
a sweet
little thing,
she's a
real
free spirit
don't you know,
when
i call her
'sweetheart'
she
doesn't
crack
a smile,
and
'honey'
don't work
for
anything
anyhow.
when
i call
her
'babydoll'
it
doesn't
raise
the
roof,
but
when
she
calls
me
'god',
oh
my
'god',
that's
when
i get
my
proof.


© 2013

Once upon a time...
there was a shift in the way Humankind
felt and thought and created
that was in the best interests of all
of the known Universe.

Manhood and Womanhood
stood shoulder to shoulder,
eye to eye, throwing their blessing
outward to the Sun and the Moon and the Stars.

Every beast was befriended
and not hunted for sport,
nor force fed for consumption.

The very trees and the grass
bowed their branches and
along with the Dandelions
they paid homage to the Alien
who originated far, far away.

Humankind began to rewrite
their own history which included
All of the gods, Male and Female.

Now isn't that a doable Fairy Tale.

no closing the eyes
no looking to the left and right
no more no territory

yes it's clear
yes to no fear
yes to eating steer

no to the enth degree
no to uncivil society
no to not being a you and me

yes to no monopoly
yes to no decree
yes to no tom-foolery

over our heads
creeps big time,
the only thing that is.

freshly folded moment
too alive to die.

witness to the break
in the softer water's wave.

now, back, forced to see.
no salve for the blind.
sometimes oh to be blind.

one is eleven's rhyme.


© copyright 2005

All Rights Reserved

Over our head
creeps big time,
the only thing that is.

Freshly folded moment,
to alive to  die,

Witness  to  the  break
in the softer water's wave.

Now, back,  forced to see,
no  salve  for  the  blind.

Sometimes, oh to be blind.

One   is   eleven's   rhyme.

Down under
with faceless fear.
Thunderclap
sounds wonder.
Drip,drip,
of one too many tear.

Caught
between
you and I,
a spark
burned hot.

Reaching in,
drawing back.
A bellows billows black.

I can't
wonder
where or when,
what it was we had,
and will it ever
be back again.

The long lost love
lost its luster.
Too much too soon,
Much too much
trust to muster.

You said
you didn't want
to hurt me,
but still you did.

I never wanted to hurt you,
but still I did. Some times
I can clearly see where it is that
I bring sorrow.

We bounced around
and called it fun.
We hid ourselves
not wanting to hurt,
we played the lie
and took what
we thought
was the best.

But inside now,
I see it for what it was,
it was just a curve ball
sinking fast.

Sometimes,
in my right mind,
I clearly see why
I feel the guilt
and the shame.

When your pain
or some symbol
of your grief
lay
spread eagle
over my not so picture
perfect day,
and in my
undaunted attempt to
kick your dark
memory
to the curb.


When I
can see where
I caused you sorrow,
I have to
justify it,
stop
thinking
about it,
put it...
off until tomorrow.

I sometimes wonder
if there really is
any winners
or losers
in break-ups,
or if it is only the prep work
while the chef
shouts out his or her maniacal orders.

I did once look
at my past loves,
(if you can call them that).
The only common denominator
I could come up with
as to why they didn't hold true amd work
was me..
So there I go,
who's to blame who.
That just amounts to,
That's that...

© 2013

You know those days
where you can't seem to do
Anything wrong.
Those days
When the ideas keep coming,
And they are all good ones.
The days where serendipity
Harbours you and favours you
Every step of the way.
Those days when you have the answers
And you can apply them where needed.

Well, this ain't one of those days.

Look around you
What do you see
In everyone I meet
There is a whole lot of me

Look in to the sky
Any given eye
Sees it just like me
We are one under the sun

Our petty differences
What ever happened to
Live and let live

If you do unto others
As you would have them
Do unto you

We've got a long way
To go Towards achieving peace
A long way toward loving one another

I could sit here
And **** on it
Stop it from happening

So many people
Not thinking they are one
They are one under the sun

Give it time
There is no expiry date
There is no time
No such thing as of late

One under the sun
Just one only one
Under the sun

I sit here in my mind
and start to wonder what to do

In my mind

I bend back this long long
elastic, stretched it with all I had

I climbed in the middle and let her fly
Out through my cranium towards the sky, then passed the stars

Out into the universe headed for the closest galaxy.

You're my only hope
I need you near
I'm in Deaths scope
It's the end I fear

Waves hiss
lapping the shoreline,

******* clad
beings
soaking up the sun.

A slight breeze
pushing clouds,

they dance
for our
entertainment.

The vastness
of the ocean

reminding me
of the bigger
picture.

The grains
of sand

whisper
their allegiance
to the stars.

the tube
on a synch
remedy for sickness
a kitchen sink
government says
stay at home
wink wink
for the most
part
the situations' stink
left here
to take
hold my drink
newsman says
this is what
to think
neighbour
peeking
through their curtain
turns into
another fink
love that
was all
around
gone in a blink
your finger
broke
searching
yet another link
we take nothing
with us but
our soul
think

You glide on in
and save my life.
I was so all alone
standing on
the edge of a knife.

I feel so small
on this weary night.
I miss you
gone all the time,
slaving your way
to the end of your day.

Don't be offended,
everyone wants
their soul mended.
Truth be told, it's not
everyone who can be so bold.

Oh I so love you,
and that we have befriended
our vary essences.
The magnificence of our purity.
You know it, love really does set us free.

on the other hand is a peace symbol,
              on the other hand is my fist.
on the other hand is seasons greetings,
              on the other hand you're on my
                                         naughty list.
on the other hand is love sweet love,
              on the other hand is hatred with
                                                 a twist.
on the other hand is a blanketing darkness,
              on the other hand, in sunlight I'll
               bargain your soul in a will-o'-the-wisp

My marriage
Was like my scotch
It was on the rocks.

Lasting only three years
Feeling like
Three hundred.

I felt broken
For a while
Being torn asunder.

Close to feeling drowned,
Quickly going under

It took some time...
Being by myself.

It took forgiving,
Putting anger on the shelf

It was hard seeing my boy
So little back then.

Every time we saw each other
he'd say daddy when is the next time, when?

I hold myself
in contempt,
or I don't.
Either way
my day is spent
doing what I want,
wanting what I do.

in ottawa they protest
saying enough is enough
a sign on the capital reads
justin is a cry minister
he hides from the people
using covid rule
reaping what he sow

tall steel and glass
hold in honking horns
and exhaust fumes
another sign:
make justin a
drama teacher again

cars and trucks and canucks
there be no better winter sport
family abound children engulfed
in four letter words
you can't have a game of hockey
without a few pucks

You know how mainstream Christianity
can make you feel so sick.

But still I pay attention
to the essential Christian philosophy.

To not do so, for me it would be like
throwing the baby Jesus out with the bathwater.

Pick out the stars in your eyes
When you stare into a constellation
And if you pass a beggar on the street
They're so you can share your wealth
It's not like the end of the world is coming tomorrow
Even if it were, the beauty of the Super Nova makes a good selfie
No sense living life head up your ***
When money is useless a good meal may be hard to come by
Pack up your troubles and go out in the Nova's blaze of glory

I open the pantry door
And stare blankly
My arms start waving
Fingers pointing

Out of the corner
Of my eye
I notice my wife

I break into
Tai Chi moves
To make it look
Less like a man
Who has
Temporarily
Lost his way

Like banging a drum
                      passed the graveyard,
it's all he can do
to tell himself.. it's not hard.
The tombstones cast an iery light,
you can hear the faint sounds of trombones
caught behind the moon
on this chilly night.

One makes stands
higher than the other,
he recognizes this
to be his brother.

Then he takes out the fold-together  *****
from his back-pack,
and commences to dig.
He digs and he digs,
the pile of dirt grows around him..

then all of a sudden.. clunck-clunck...
he hits the ornate casket with a rock hammer,
that casket that was bought and sold
by the many wails and tears
of the family and friends.


out strikes the rock hammer,
...thud...thud...,thud.

he says to himself.. this must be hardwood...****.. I should have brought a drill!.

aghh the life of a grave robber... not quite a coffin cheater.
his hands are ***** now, and the midnight sky twinkles dissent.

it's plain though,yes its plain,it's plain it's plain...

Digging' up your own brother for a watch and a suit that might not even fit you.. and what else.. a couple of rings.......  good luck to you.


© 2013

intoxicating
liberating
oscillating
vacillating
never negating
not degradating  
only relating
fully inflating
intoxicating
liberating
oscillating
vacillating
stretching out
folding in
inebriating


end

Sometimes I can feel it yes I can
I'm wrapped around your little finger yes I am
The way you do my head it just ain't no good
The way you do my head not like a good girl should

She'll slink up behind you bro
She hid in the garden don't you know
Everybody said she was before her time
She'll sneak up behind you and commit the perfect crime

But it's alright yes it's okay
I'll get some of what I need just for today

The coffee's going down and I'm waking up
She has a whole lot of baggage enough to fill a truck
Down by the waterfront she'll take the plunge
She made it through the nineties she lived through grunge

She'll sneak up behind you bro
She hid in the garden don't you know
Everyone was saying that she's before her time
She'll sneak up behind you and commit the perfect crime

Sometimes I feel it, yes I can
I'm wrapped around your finger yes I am
The way you do my head it's just no good
The way you do my head not like a good girl should  

She'll slink up behind you bro
She hid in the garden don't you know
Everybody said she was before her time
She'll sneak up behind you and commit the perfect crime

But I find that it's alright yeah it's okay
I'll get what I need just for today
It's alright yeah it's okay
I'll get some of what I need just for today

She'll slink up behind you bro
She hid in the garden don't you know
Everyone said she was before her time
She'll sneak up behind you and commit the perfect crime

The coffee is going down and I'm waking up
I got a **** load of joy enough to fill a truck
Down by the waterfront I'll take the plunge
I went through the nineties I lived through grunge

But it's alright yeah it's okay
I'll get what I need just for today

Sometimes I feel it, yes I do,
I 'm wrapped around your finger, yes I am.
The way you do my head, it just ain't no good,
the way you do my head, it's nothing like a good girl should.


She slinks up behind you bro,
she's hid in the garden, don't you know.

Nobody could say she's before her time,
she will sneak up behind you
and commit the perfect crime...


But it's alright, yea it's okay,
I'll get what I can, just for today.
Yes it's alright, yea it's okay.
I'm getting just what I'm needing, just for today.



Well she'll slink up behind you bro,
she has hid out in the garden don't you know.

Nobody can say she's before her time,
she has hid in the garden, don't you know.
And nobody can say that she is before her time,
she will sneak up behind you and commit the perfect crime.


© 2012

All Rights Reserved

I was my mother's bad joke
she just didn't get me

She thought monogamy
Was a type of wood

All I knew about my father
Is that his seed didn't fall to the ground

My mother's friends were ******* me
Their cheap perfume stung my eyes

And burned my throat
As it made its way to my fragile lungs

When I grew older I had a woman
I loved very much

She ghosted me
Turning my heart to stone

To get away I took a trip to
The Petrified Forest asking why it was so afraid

I didn't need a death sentence
To let me know I was alive

So I turned around and went back home
To the place I hang my hat

I lived my life out naturally
Holding memories and a well-worn heart

A
good
laugh
can make
all the difference
in the world

a joke is
a joke is
a joke

I can't
take myself
too seriously

laughing
at myself
is good medicine

last night
I lost the best friend
I ever had

I read
a digital sign today,
it went something like this..
            "Some mistakes are too ****** cool to make only once"

To which my head replied... 'or twice for that matter'.

I don't understand myself when everything goes my way
but I carry a big ten inch snit...

This morning I found
a silver ring and an empty bottle of
                               FIREBALL Cinnamon Whisky.

    I have never drank the stuff but it sounds as bad as White Shark,
a hanged over in a glass vessel.

What a way to start the day, day two on the way to breaking the cigarette habit..
                                 I have to on the count of they're killing me.. But I love my smoke.
    Thank you God for the e-cigarette.. I love love, love you, oh thank you Lord!

         And the puff-puff-pass doesn't help,
I have to buy stock in Halls Cough Drops,
  I use them so much I've had to take a second mortgage out on the house that I will never own.

Anyway, the lady's gone to bed and I have music floatin' in my head.. was ****** most of the day
              but you can't keep a good man down.


end © 2014

My plans were foiled
I fell down on my knees
My clothes got soiled

I've got Art on the wall
The telephone never gets a call
I'm five nine and my problems
Are ten feet tall

Just like taking the grey
When you could have sun all day

I have the rhythm but I don't have the blues
When it comes to trouble well I'm bad news

I look to my left and I look to my right
The whole world is falling apart

Washington, a reality show has become
Everybody has tired of hearing 'you're fired'
And has been waiting on the roll of the drum

Google is there but which answer is true
And when they steal your writing
Do you really think you can sue

In a world
Where we throw things away

You can shovel all night
It's still on display

You got your bag
And you put it in a pile

Then burn it, what a rip
I want to go some place else

Somewhere where they
Recycle everything

If we put any more plastic
Into the ocean

Pretty soon we'll
Be able to walk on its waves

Pull a Jesus
When to know Him   ...frees us

Not the plastic jesus on the dash
Not the Reverends looking for cash

A revolutionary look at the world
No more not taking the blame

To do that is insane.

Standing in a field
with big sky
while rain threatens
the children in the playground.

Swiftly thoughts
charging from here to there
and back yet again.
It isn't a matter of relax.

Slow poke in the ribs
that knocks the wind
across the open grass,
moving towards the horizon.

Play is an unforgotten
movement that pushes me,
and who is to say
what is or isn't play.